Jupiter's Game
by Cronomon
Summary: It's a challenge to win the title of Jupiter's Most Attractive! Each Jupiter member must go on a date with four 765 Pro girls and give all of them the best date possible. Date 5: HokutoxChihaya.
1. Rules

**Disclaimer: I do not own THE iDOLMASTER. **

* * *

"For the last time, Shouta, leave me alone," Touma growled, pacing the office room fervently in an attempt to get rid of the grinning green-haired boy behind him.

"Aw, come on, it'll be fun and you know it~!" Aforementioned green-haired boy replied cheerfully, completely unfazed by his co-worker's dangerous tone. "Hokuto agreed. And you don't want to be a spoilsport, now do you, Touma?"

Touma shot a glare at the group's third member. Hokuto, who had been sitting on the couch watching the two, caught Touma's eye and smirked back, shrugging his shoulders innocently. Touma scowled and spat at Shouta, "As if I care what Hokuto agrees to. You two are annoying. Just go play your stupid game by yourselves and leave me alone."

Shouta frowned and looked over at Hokuto, silently willing the blonde to do something about their leader's bad attitude. The taller man winked in return and said, "Now, now, Touma. I understand that you're always cranky but I never knew you were that scared of girls. Although I suppose that does give you an excuse, hm?"

"What?" the brunet grunted irritably. The mention of girls seemed to have caught his attention at least. "What are you talking about?"

"Why, our 'stupid game' of course," Hokuto replied. "Surely the reason you don't want to participate is because you already know you have no hope of winning, correct?"

"That's not true at all. And why the hell were girls brought up all of a sudden?"

Shouta blinked, and then placed his fist over an open palm. "Ah, did I not explain it to you? Our game's about scoring dates with girls. Whoever can treat four girls to an awesome date each and then have all of them admit it was awesome without being questioned first wins." He smiled brightly. "See? Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"And I suppose that since you don't want to play that means you're already admitting that both Shouta and I are much better at flirting than yourself, isn't that right, Touma?"

"As if I would ever admit that!"

"Then why don't you prove us wrong?" Hokuto challenged, closing the net around his prey. "Go ahead and show us the mighty wooing skills of Touma Amagase. Assuming he even has any underneath his grumpiness."

Jupiter's leader twitched at the taunting words, opening his mouth to snarl a reply when Shouta spoke up.

"Touma's a tsundere, of course he has something under that moody shell of his," the youngest member said. "A gentle, kind heart that loves to play soccer and cook. Ahh~ what a softie, huh?"

"Shut up, you two. You're just trying to piss me off, aren't you?"

Shouta grinned, knowing they practically had him. "Well, of course even with such a caring inner self there's no way he'll be able to satisfy four girls. I'll definitely win 'cause I'm the best!"

"You're still a kid, Shouta," Hokuto said, finally standing up and joining his companions. "I'm the one with the most experience here. Obviously I'll be the one to win."

"And yet you've never once had a girlfriend," Touma pointed out. His angry eyes now held a determined look to them as he stated confidently, "As the leader of this group it's only natural that I stand above the both of you. Prepare to lose."

Hokuto tilted his head with a satisfied smile. "In that case, I look forward to your participation in this game, Touma." He clapped his hands once before continuing, "Now to decide the rules and reward."

"We can each pick four girls from 765 Pro, and those can our victims—I mean, dates," Shouta offered cheerfully. "Rock paper scissors decides who gets to pick first."

Hokuto looked fine with the idea but Touma scowled. "Why 765 Pro?" he demanded. "They're just scum dirtying the title of idol. Plus, they're annoying. Like half of them speak in third person!"

"Well it's not as though we have very many other places with twelve girls around our age," Shouta explained. "765 Pro works 'cause it all divides out evenly so long as we don't include that producer-turned-idol. Besides, they're all cute."

Touma made a face. "You shouldn't be saying that about the enemy. Why can't we just find some outsiders to go out with?"

"It's no fun without a challenge. The majority of people around here are our fans—they'd all agree on a date and say it was the best one of their lives," Hokuto pointed out. "Then no one would win. If you're as confident in your wooing skills as you say you are then the girls at 765 Pro should be no problem, right?"

"Tch. Whatever. And what happens if all twelve of them are happy with the dates we provided?"

"Do you believe that will happen? How optimistic you are, Touma! Yet another hidden trait," Hokuto smiled. "Should that situation arise we'd obviously just need a tiebreaker. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now I believe we should discuss what the winner receives."

"A chance to be lead singer in one of our next concerts!" Shouta proposed excitedly.

Touma looked less than happy with that decision, and even Hokuto didn't seem particularly spurred by it. Sensing this, Shouta shrugged and asked if they had any better suggestions.

"Bragging material?" Touma suggested half-heartedly.

"The title of Jupiter's Most Attractive," Hokuto said with an air of finality, as though he'd already decided upon it long before. "We can even have it publicized. Basically it means whoever wins will have a popularity boost among the fans, and what better way to please Kuroi-shachou?"

Touma rolled his eyes, wondering why they would want to please the old man in the first place. However, popularity boosts were always a good thing to have since it just meant Jupiter had that many more fans than any of 765's units. "Sure," he said nonchalantly.

Shouta also gave his consent and Hokuto quickly wrote down the game rules, names of the girls, and reward on a sheet of paper.

"We'll have a month to complete all the dates," the blonde said. "If by the end of the month not all four girls have admitted to being happy with their date then the man loses. Also, in order to confirm that the girl has actually said it she will have to sign a piece of paper."

"What? We have to get the girl to say it without directly asking her _and_ get her to give her signature?" Touma's tone was full of incredulity. "That's ridiculous."

"That's the rule, Touma. If you don't like it you can always forfeit."

Touma frowned but didn't protest any further. Hokuto smiled, obviously enjoying his power over Jupiter's leader. "So, without any further ado," he said, "shall we decide our future dates? Rock paper scissors on who gets to pick first."

Shouta nodded enthusiastically, holding out his fist. "I've totally already figured out who I wanna go out with!"

"I think I need to refresh my memory on who's _in_ that agency in the first place," Touma grumbled, but nonetheless he stuck out his fist as well.

"Everyone ready?" Hokuto asked. Without waiting for confirmation he declared, "Rock… paper… scissors!"

* * *

**Honestly just a random idea that came up while I was sick on an airplane. I hate airplanes. But I liked this idea. **

**As an awesome interaction game, I'm gonna ask my reviewers to submit which girls they want to go out with which Jupiter member! Of course, if only a few reviewers offer only a few girls I'll end up picking the rest, but I just wanna make sure it's a story that can satisfy everyone~ If you wanna see Hokuto flirting with Makoto or Shouta and Yayoi having a cute date please just say so and I'll write it! You can also submit date scenes you want to read, since I don't think I'll be able to come up with 12 dates all by myself. **

**Thanks for reading and please review!**


	2. ToumaxHaruka

**Date 1: ToumaxHaruka**

"This sucks, I was practically just given the leftovers!" Touma complained, sore over his loss to Shouta.

The green-haired boy, meanwhile, was laughing over his good fortune. "I'm lucky that Hokuto didn't want any of the ones I was interested in. But I'm pretty surprised by your choices—weren't you already rejected by two of them?"

"That was merely a simple error on my part," Hokuto dismissed with a wave of his hand. "I'm confident that I'll be able to win both of them over this time. In any case, the three of us are done with work for the day, correct?"

"Unless Shachou suddenly pops in with another job for us, yeah, we're done," Shouta confirmed.

Hokuto was already headed for the door, waving an arm in farewell as he departed. "May the most attractive win, then. Good luck, you two."

"Hmph," Touma scoffed as soon as the blonde had left. "He already thinks he's got this in the bag, huh? I'll show him not to underestimate the power of Jupiter's leader."

"Haha, fight, Touma!" Shouta cheered. "But it seems like you have it rough. You got that lady you're scared of, right? I'm just happy that I got the easy girls."

"I'm not scared of her," Touma denied with a death glare. "Just because I find her strange doesn't mean she's scary."

Shouta stuck out his tongue. "That so? Then why are you totally paralyzed whenever you see her? Don't tell me it's 'cause she's got some strange completely unscary powers or whatever."

"I'll kill you if you don't leave right now."

"Wah! Frightening!" Shouta laughed. "But don't worry, I'll head out, too. Good luck with your women, Touma~ If you ask me you probably got the hardest ones. An alien, a klutz, an stuck-up princess-."

"Shouta!"

With a last laugh the boy was gone and Touma was finally left alone in peace and quiet. Except it wasn't peaceful because he only had a month to woo four girls he hated (and who no doubt hated him) and go on a date with each and every one of them. An enjoyable date, at that.

"I guess I should start with the easiest one, then. Ugh, but I barely remember any of them..." Touma stared at the names of the girls he'd been left with since Hokuto and Shouta had picked everyone else. "Might as well start from the top I guess. Whoever this person is..."

/~/~/

"Amami Haruka!"

Every idol in the room glanced up at the sudden interruption, but only one yelped, "Hai!"

"Go on a date with me!"

"Hai! Ah-... wait, what?"

Touma growled as the other girls proceeded to have a laughing fit. Haruka just looked like she was about to die of embarrassment. Ignoring this, the brunet stalked up to his target and glared down at her, none too happy about his current situation.

"I'm serious. Go on a date with me. Right now."

"Um... why?"

Why? Did she seriously just ask _why_ she was being asked out on a date? Touma scowled- 765 Pro really was full of idiots. "Why do you think?" he snapped impatiently. "Because I want to go on a date with you!"

"Ah~ AmaTou is such a romantic, isn't he?" one of the younger girls called out.

"Harurun, this is your chance!" the one next to her added eagerly.

Another girl, the boyish looking one, spoke up with a frown, stepping over to Haruka in a protective manner. "Don't tell me this is another stupid thing Kuroi has planned for the destruction of 765 Pro or whatever."

"The old man has nothing to do with this so stop acting so suspicious," Touma replied. He looked down at Haruka again. She smiled back nervously. "Well? Will you grace me with your presence for the day or not?"

"I don't mind," Haruka replied. "Where do you want to go?"

Touma paused. That was (annoyingly) a good question. He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of a place to go before barging in to the 765 agency like an idiot and declaring that one of their idols go out with him.

"Hmph, looks like the amazing Amagase Touma doesn't even have a plan for a date," the girl carrying a stuffed rabbit like a two-year-old sniffed.

"We're going to see a movie," Touma decided on the spot. He glared at Haruka to see if she had any objection. She nodded, apparently already accustomed to the idea that she had been asked out by the guy who was always insulting her and her friends.

Rolling his eyes, Touma grabbed her hand and pulled her away, trying to ignore how she stumbled from the sudden tug. Tch, it wasn't his fault. She should have better coordination. And it wasn't as though he was planning to check and make sure she was okay once they got outside... Or at least, not because he cared. It'd just look bad on him as the leader of Jupiter if he was seen with a messy girl.

/~/~/

"So what movie are we gonna see?" Haruka asked, now walking comfortably beside Touma.

He'd decided he didn't need to hold her hand as though she were a child. After all, it wasn't as though he was her dad or her boyfriend or anything. She could walk perfectly fine on her own... aside from those occasional trips she had over her own feet.

"Dunno," Touma shrugged. "Anything good out?"

"Mm, I haven't really seen any interesting trailers lately..."

"Guess we'll just have to decide once we get there."

Haruka smiled brightly. "Sounds like a plan!" Then she giggled and added, "You're surprisingly nice when you're not being all grumpy, Touma-san. Was this a dare or something by your friends?"

Touma fought the urge to shudder. Hokuto and Shouta his _friends_? She'd better have been kidding. There was no way he would ever consider those two as something as close as friends. Especially after they'd dragged him into this stupid game. But as the leader of Jupiter it was unacceptable for him to lose! So he shrugged again and said, "Not really. What, you can't believe that someone would ask you out on a date?"

"Eh? No way, if I said that was true then that'd mean I'd be insulting myself, wouldn't it?" Haruka waved her arms frantically. "I'm just surprised that it's you who did it. I always thought you were some kind of anti-social overconfident guy with a really bad personality."

"And I always thought you were some talentless klutz with absolutely no musical ability whatsoever," Touma shot back, trying to keep the venom out of his voice. So long as she thought he was teasing it was fine for him to say stuff like that. "Try proving me wrong there. I invite you."

"You don't think I'm a good idol?" she actually sounded wounded but Touma went on anyways.

"Isn't that what I've been telling your group all along?"

"Touma-san really is a jerk..."

"Hey." Touma frowned, glancing over at her. "That was a joke." Kind of. Not really. "Like I said, prove me wrong. If you can impress me I'll take back everything I just said. In fact..." He looked around and found, to his satisfaction, a karaoke place that was just conveniently there. "I'll challenge you right now."

Haruka followed his gaze and immediately her eyes lit up, a smile replacing her hurt expression. "That looks fun! Let's play it, Touma-san!" Without waiting for an answer she ran over, entering the building before Touma could even react.

"You don't play singing," Touma muttered but he followed anyway.

He wasn't happy that finding this place cheered her up so much. No way. They'd been going to a movie, after all, hadn't they? This was just a stupid distraction. He definitely didn't care at all that she didn't seem to be sad anymore.

/~/~/

"Ah, Touma-san, they have our songs!" Haruka said excitedly as she flipped through the songbook. "Hmm, what should we sing?"

"We? There's no 'we' in a challenge," Touma corrected her. He held out a hand for the book and his date dutifully obliged. Looking through it, Touma found a lot of 765 Pro songs, but thankfully there were also a few Jupiter songs to make up for it. "It's only a challenge if it's challenging, after all. If you can sing a Jupiter song in a way that impresses me, you win."

"Eh? A Jupiter song?" Haruka made a face. "Then you have to sing one of our songs, too. If you can sing it well enough I'll stop being mad at you."

"What? You're mad at me?"

Haruka nodded. "Of course I am!" Her cheerful smile whilst saying so told otherwise. "You have to sing _The Sun's Jealousy_ and _Girls, Be Ambitious_ and make them both super super good. They're my songs so I'll be able to judge them best."

"Those are such... girly songs, though," Touma protested. "Plus, I barely know them. Just the titles are giving me a bad feeling."

"You can give me two songs to make it fair, you know," Haruka replied, finding a solution to the wrong problem.

Touma rolled his eyes. As if making her sing two songs would solve everything. Still, he figured he should go with two songs he'd be able to judge easily so he listed, "_Alice or Guilty_ and _BANGxBANG_. Good luck."

"_Alice or Guilty_?" Haruka looked horrified. "I can't sing that! It's so dark!"

"How do you think I feel about having to sing your 'girls be ambitious' thing?"

"It's about embracing aspirations!"

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"You should be happy to sing a song like that," Haruka said, green eyes now taking a confused look. "It's all about being cheerful and taking things as they are. I'm sure Touma-san could learn a thing or two from it."

Touma just rolled his eyes again. Whatever pleased her, he supposed. "Sure. Whatever you say. Now, do you want to go first or shall I?" he leaned forward with a grin. "I have to say, I can't wait to hear you mess up my songs."

This time, instead of taking offense, Haruka just smirked back. "I should be saying that to you," she said with an air of confidence he'd hadn't heard before. Quickly selecting the four songs, Haruka took the microphone and waited.

The first song, _Alice or Guilty_, rang out moments later, the guitar chords giving the room a menacing (incredibly cool, in Touma's opinion) atmosphere, and when Haruka began to sing it was in a low yet powerful voice the brunet had never even knew she possessed.

_"The lies just keep on spilling out_

_Until precious moments become defined by them."_

Even her voice while singing carried confidence in every note. Her body swayed slightly as she continued, and when Touma looked up from his seat he saw a hardened look on her face, an almost evil smile growing bigger and bigger. He suppressed a shiver. The Haruka in front of him right now was almost like the villain she'd played in 765 Pro's movie (not that he'd seen it, of course. It'd looked like crap.)

_"The city is a warped labyrinth_

_And in it I lose you..."_

___Alice..."_

Haruka glanced over, and Touma was surprised by the absolute solemn look in her eyes. She really got into her songs... Okay, fine. Touma grudgingly had to admit that she was doing well. Great, if he was honest. A lot better than he'd expected from such a klutz. Looked like 765 really did have a bit of talent, even if it was only from one person.

"_So I'll break through this labyrinth that my voice could not_

_And when I reach out for you_

_I'll be able to accept my sins, and the punishment I must face_

_So I beg you to cast your judgement upon me!"_

/~/~/

"_You know, I tried listening to your words_

_And got a sweet piercing feeling!"_

Touma blatantly ignored the giggles he heard from behind him. Seriously, just 'cause he couldn't pull off the girly tone needed for this song didn't mean she had to laugh... To shut her up, he shot a glare, but she only grinned in return, by now completely unfazed by his attempts at being scary. Tch.

"_Chase after me and I'll pretend to run away and gently dive into the water because I'm a mermaid!"_

Really? What kind of lyrics were these? From her seat on the couch, Haruka proceeded to have another laughing fit. Face bright red, Touma had no choice but to continue.

"_I want you to catch me and say 'I love you'!_

_In this hot eternity our future begins!"_

/~/~/

"_BANG BANG BIG BANG!_

_My heart is a BIG BANG!_

_A bomber crashing dreams and reality!_

___Now let's make a rocket dash to the best peace!"_

Haruka was practically jumping up and down as she blasted through the chorus. Hyped up by the excitement of the song, she danced around the room, laughing her way through the lyrics.

"_BANG BANG BIG BANG!_

_BIRI BIRI BIG BANG!"_

She seemed to be having way too much fun with this. Touma tried to remember if he'd enjoyed the song this much when he'd recorded it. Haruka looked like she was having the time of her life as she sang.

Watching her, Touma allowed himself a small smile. At least it couldn't be said that 765 Pro's idols didn't love music. Haruka really wasn't as bad as he'd thought.

"_FIRE! FIRE GO!_

_BIG BANG!"_

/~/~/

"_Girls be ambitious!_

_Dream and be wonderful!_

_Girls be ambitious!_

_Love and become beautiful!"_

God, this was such a girly song. Touma was trying to stay serious with it but it was just so hard. If he was a man he wouldn't be singing something like this. But he could just feel Haruka's challenging eyes burning into the back of his head. No way was he gonna lose!

"_Stand up, ladies!"_

Okay, if Haruka was going to laugh _again_ at his attempts at her songs she could at least try to be subtle about it.

This was so uncool.

/~/~/

"I totally won," Haruka said triumphantly as they exited the building.

Denying it would be pointless so Touma just grumbled. He honestly hadn't expected her to be so strong in _Alice or Guilty_, or to be able to provide that much energy for _BANGxBANG_. Maybe he should stop underestimating his opponents so often.

"Aw, don't feel bad, Touma-san. You had hard songs," Haruka said sympathetically.

"I don't need your pity."

Haruka only laughed. "If it makes you feel any better it was really funny. Especially when you tried _The Sun's Jealousy_! But I thought you were good in _Girls, Be Ambitious_. If we changed it to _Boys, Be Ambitious_ you'd probably have a new hit, huh?"

"Funny." And to prove it, Touma offered a half smile. "Anyways, you did pretty well. Could've been darker on _Alice or Guilty_ but not bad for a 765 Pro idol."

"Hey, I was trying as hard as I could. Dark is more fitting for Touma-san."

"And girly stuff if more fitting for you. Now what's the lesson to be learned in all this?"

"That 765 Pro is the best!" Haruka cheered. "You still have to take back what you said, remember? And... you have to say that 765 Pro is ten times better than 961! No, fifty times. No, a hundred!"

"What? You can't just add on to the bet like that," Touma protested.

Haruka grinned and stuck out her tongue. "I just did. But here, I'll go first." She marched in front of Touma and stood up straight, placing her hands formally behind her back as she said loudly, "Amagase Touma is actually really nice and took me out on a really fun date so I'm not mad at him anymore." She then gave a light cough and looked at Touma expectantly.

"I thought you were only supposed to do that if I won," Jupiter's leader pointed out.

"Yeah, but all of it's true so I might as well say it, right?" Haruka smiled. "Honestly, thanks a lot, Touma-san. I had a great time."

"What, are we done already?" Touma couldn't help the teasing note in his voice. "We still have a movie to watch, don't we? Unless, of course, you'd rather go back and leave me to watch it all alone."

Haruka waved her arms frantically. "What? No way! Besides, you still have a few lines of your own to say to me, Touma-san."

The brunet smirked. Oh, he'd be saying them, alright. Sweeping down onto one knee, he placed an arm across his chest and said in the most dramatic voice he could muster, "I, Amagase Touma, take back all the cruel things I said about 765 Pro and now acknowledge them as one hundred times greater than 961 Pro in both talent and personality."

"You didn't have to add that last part..."

"Amami Haruka, please grace the humble me with an autograph!" Touma winked and pulled out a pen and scrap of paper from his pocket. "I couldn't dare hope for anything more."

Haruka giggled. "You're pretty weird, you know. But if you insist." She took the paper and pen and quickly scribbled her signature onto it. "Satisfied?"

As Touma took the autographed paper back, he knew it wasn't guilt or shame he was feeling. After all, this was just a game. He had no reason to be feeling bad for tricking one of the victims like he'd just done. It was all for the sake of Jupiter's Most Attractive. And showing Hokuto and Shouta just who was the boss in the group.

He didn't need to act as though he'd actually had a good time. Because he definitely hadn't. It was definitely just for the dumb game.

* * *

**Next chapter: HokutoxYukiho**


	3. HokutoxYukiho

**Date 2: HokutoxYukiho**

Hokuto had, as much as he liked to deny it, been rejected by both Makoto Kikuchi and Azusa Miura of 765 Pro. The two incidents were bitter memories for him, as they had been the first time anyone had ever rejected him. And to think that not one, but _two girls_ had done it. Conveniently both girls belonging to 765 Pro. Therefore, this game was the perfect time for him to get even. Not by dirty, underhanded ways, of course, because Jupiter didn't work like that.

He would woo them. Woo them so effectively that by the end of it all they would have no choice but to go on a date and admit that it was the best one they'd ever had. And the only way to do that was to play on their good side. Hence him asking out Yukiho Hagiwara first, as his research had shown that she was in fact Makoto's best friend. And if Yukiho could admit that it was an incredible date, Makoto would have no choice but to agree to go out with him!

It was a flawless plan.

He would invite Yukiho into his amazingly fancy and expensive car and take her for a drive around town. In fact, maybe he would even let her drive, to show that he had no problem with allowing someone beside him to take control of his car. He wasn't a picky person. He just had to show these girls that.

And once the drive was over and he'd finished his work on Yukiho, who by the end of it all would be in a daze over his fabulousness, Makoto and Azusa would see what they'd initially missed out on. Luckily for them, Hokuto believed in second chances, and second chances he would grant them until he had his own wonderful harem and was bestowed the title of Jupiter's Most Attractive.

But first things first.

He had to get Yukiho to stop freaking out at the sight of him.

/~/~/

"You bastard, what're you trying to do to Yukiho?" Makoto demanded, instantly stepping in front of the hyperventilating girl.

She gave a death glare to Hokuto, not that he was intimidated or anything, and then her gaze wandered to his incredible awesome car beside them. She stared at it in disbelief. Well, of course she did. It was an awesome car. Hokuto smirked and brushed his hair lightly with his fingers, waiting for the praise of how cool he was to own such a car.

"Were you trying to kidnap her? I should just report you to the police right now!"

"No, I wasn't trying to _kidnap_ her," Hokuto frowned, offended. "I was merely attempting to woo her to come into my car."

Makoto snorted, very unladylike. All part of her charm, in Hokuto's opinion. "Like that's any less sketchy. If Yukiho's going anywhere with you I'm coming, too!"

"Even better. Come along, then, we haven't got all day." Score! This was like killing two birds with one stone. Not that he wouldn't be having a proper date with Makoto later. She was just a tagalong so that she could observe how well he treated her best friend. "Yukiho will be sitting in the passenger seat and you can sit in the back. Unless, of course, she'd much rather drive?"

Here, Hakuto pointedly looked at Makoto to see if she'd caught his generosity. She hadn't. She was too busy trying to get Yukiho to calm down.

"You know, Yukiho-chan," he tried again, "you don't need to be so scared of me. I can assure you that I have no intention of harming you in any way. All I wish for today is for you to have a good time."

The brown-haired girl whimpered, hiding behind Makoto who immediately shot him another glare.

Maybe he should try a different approach.

"Yukiho-chan~ I'm sure many have already addressed you as the princess of 765 Pro. In that case, wouldn't you like to go on a date with the Idol Prince?"

This time, Yukiho actually responded. Not that he could hear her. All he picked up was, "Makoto... prince... date." Makoto promptly turned a bright red. Hokuto felt he wouldn't have to think too hard to actually get what she'd said.

"Wait, did you just say date?" Makoto said accusingly.

"That I did. Why? You interested?"

"As if I'd let Yukiho go on a date with you!"

"Then by all means, come along. Anything to make the little princess feel more comfortable." Wink.

Makoto only looked even more upset by that. "Stop being such a creeper, Hokuto! I told you already, you're not going anywhere with Yukiho. Now go away. And tell Touma that if he lays a single finger on Haruka I'll kill him ten times over!"

Haruka? So that was who Touma had gone for first? Well, considering how pathetically terrified he was of Takane, how he couldn't stand Miki's third person speech, and how annoyed he got by Hibiki... yeah, no real surprise there.

Hopefully Touma wouldn't screw this up too much. Even if Hokuto was obviously going to win the game, it'd look bad on Jupiter as a whole if word got out that Touma had mistreated another idol on a date. Plus, all of Hokuto's chances with Makoto and Azusa would probably go right down the drain. Seriously, if that happened Makoto would just have to deal with not being able to send Touma to hell because he'd do it himself.

"Come on, Yukiho, we're leaving."

Hokuto snapped back into reality just in time to see Makoto dragging Yukiho back into the 765 Pro building. "Hey, wait!" he called out in alarm. "Don't leave yet!"

They ignored him. How hurtful.

/~/~/

Plan B. Wait for Yukiho to walk home at the end of the day. Once she comes out, start walking with her. Oh, but first he had to park his car somewhere up ahead so that when they passed by it he could offer her a ride home. Then she'd accept and he'd take her home and the next day she'd tell Makoto about how amazing he was and Makoto would finally agree to go on a date with him!

Again, a flawless plan.

So Hokuto stood completely non-stalkerishly outside of the 765 Pro building, ignoring the other idols' questions about why he was lurking there (unless they were Azusa, Chihaya, Yukiho, or Makoto). Not that Yukiho or Makoto ever took another step outside since earlier that day.

Around 6:45 pm, Yukiho finally exited the building, her purse slung over her shoulder in indication that she was done with work and ready to head home. Lucky Hokuto was there to keep her from getting lonely.

"Hello again, little princess~" he greeted, coming up from behind her and pacing himself so that they walked side by side. "Mind if I walk home with you?"

The shriek she emitted was honestly the last thing he'd expected.

"Oh, _ow_ that was loud," he winced, holding a hand to his ear to make sure it wasn't bleeding. Then he remembered the girl and looked down to see her practically petrified in fear. Honestly, was it just him or was she like that to every guy? "I already told you, Yukiho-chan, I don't intend to hurt you. I just want to get to know you better."

"But," she whispered so quietly Hokuto had to strain to hear her, "y-you're... a _man_."

No kidding. So it would appear the little princess had a slight fear of men. No matter- it was these kinds of girls that Hokuto lived for. If he couldn't woo her he had no right to call himself the Idol Prince.

"That I am. A man who simply wishes to be friends with you, if that's not too much to ask," Hokuto smiled in what he was sure was a very charming way. "Would you give me this honor, Yuki-hime?"

To his delight, Yukiho blushed at the nickname. Good. He'd spent a long time coming up with that. Okay, no, not really, it'd actually been kind of obvious, but still.

"If it makes you feel more comfortable, I'll stand over here." Hokuto took a large step to the side so that there was a fair amount of space between him and the shy idol. "Is it alright with you if we walk like this?"

Yukiho mumbled something, turned her gaze to the ground, and then squeaked out, "I... guess so..." She promptly began walking again, although she didn't look up from her feet.

A small smile on his face, Hokuto proceeded on as well. If she wanted to stare at the ground like that it was up to him to make sure she didn't bump into anything and hurt herself. That was fine. It wasn't actually too long a walk to his car.

/~/~/

"Oh, well would you look at this," Hokuto exclaimed after a good ten minutes of walking in silence. "My car! Might this simple servant offer to drive you home, Yuki-hime?"

Yukiho yelped at the sudden conversation starter and then glanced warily at the Rolls Royce. Clearly she was remembering the events of that morning, particularly what Makoto had said. "Um... you really don't have to-."

"I insist, Yuki-hime," Hokuto opened the door to the driver's seat with a grand flourish. "In fact, I invite you to drive it. It's the least your servant can do for you."

"N-no, I'd be better off walking home. But... thank you, Hokuto-san," Yukiho gave a quick bow and turned to leave. Not that Hokuto would let her go that easily.

"Someone as delicate as you shouldn't be forced to walk all the way home after such long hours of singing and dancing," Hokuto insisted. "Please, even if it's just for one day, allow yourself a reward your hard work." He swept his arms in an extravagant manner and bowed deeply. "That is, if you'll allow me first, Yuki-hime. I should hope that this car is good enough for you to grace it with your presence."

It could've just been a trick of the light but for a fraction of a second there he thought he saw a smile flash briefly on Yukiho's face before it disappeared back into her reluctant expression. "I..." she paused. Looked away. Hokuto waited patiently. Finally, she whispered, "I can't drive."

Can't drive? She didn't know how to drive?

Hokuto allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. He couldn't have asked for anything better.

"Then please allow me to teach you."

/~/~/

"You really don't have to do this, Hokuto-san."

"I know," he gave her another one of his charming smiles. "But I want to."

Yukiho was sitting stiffly in the driver's seat, seatbelt strapped as tight as it would go and hands gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles were turning white. Hokuto looked at her sympathetically, wishing he could pat her or nudge her to ease her fears but he knew if he did so it would only freak her out even more.

"It's easy, I promise," he said instead. "Start by turning on the engine. The key's already in so all you have to do is turn it."

She whimpered but followed his instruction, jumping slightly when the car's motor roared to life. She turned her head to glance at him and he nodded encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, Yukiho slid her hands down to either side of the wheel and awaited the next order.

"Now just press the gas pedal and steer the car by turning the wheel however you want to. There you go... you're doing great. See? Nothing to it," Hokuto said in a pleased tone. The car was inching forward slowly due to Yukiho's unwillingness to press the pedal any more than a millimeter. "You can go a little faster, you know. Just make sure you don't bump into that-."

He winced as the car scraped by a parked truck.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Hokuto-san."

"No, no, don't worry about," Hokuto swallowed back his gasp of horror. Waving his hand, he said, "Go on. Just... you can turn the wheel to make sure you don't hit anything."

"Okay..."

"And really, you can go faster. Press a little harder, it's not as though anything that bad can happen in a parking lot- NOT THAT FAST, YUKIHO! SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN! SLOW- OH CRAP!"

/~/~/

"Hokuto-san, I'm so sorry about your car..." Yukiho apologized for the fifteenth time as they continued their walk to her house. "I'll... I'll just... I'll go dig a hole and bury myself in it!"

Hokuto laughed tiredly and shook his head. "No, really, it's fine, Yuki-hime. I can just get a new one... probably. More importantly, are you sure you're okay? You're not hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine. But, um..." Yukiho trailed off hesitantly.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to... thank you. For being so nice to me today." She smiled, which Hokuto realized was a lot more charming than he could ever pull off. "I'm sorry that Makoto-chan was being rude to you this morning. But I don't think you're that bad."

So it hadn't all been for loss. Even if he'd had to sacrifice his car along the way.

"Really?" he arched an eyebrow. "Then might I ask you to write down what you just said and show it to Makoto-chan?" Hokuto shook his head sadly. "For some reason she seems to have this idea that I'm a terrible person. I'm sure if her best friend tells her otherwise she could have at least a slight change of heart."

"I... I don't mind," Yukiho seemed slightly confused by the request but obliged nonetheless. Taking the piece of paper and pen provided by Hokuto, she wrote down her words and signed her name at the bottom. "Um... here you go."

"You have my many thanks, Yuki-hime." Wink again. "Also, if you ever find yourself in need of a good time, please don't hesitate to call me. I'm always available for cute princesses."

Complete win for the Idol Prince. After pleasing Yukiho so much, Makoto would have no choice but to accept that Hokuto was amazing. Now the next person on his list was Chihaya- so long as he could entertain her well enough, Azusa would be more than willing to go on a date with him, and then he'd have all four signatures and be declared Jupiter's Most Attractive. Showing up Touma while he was at it, of course.

Because, obviously, that was the only thing that mattered. Not these girls. They were just some bonus points he could gain along the way.

* * *

**Next Date: ShoutaxYayoi**


	4. ShoutaxYayoi

**Date 3: ShoutaxYayoi**

"Wow! This place is amazing!"

If Shouta didn't know any better he would have asked if Yayoi had never been to an amusement park. The way she was looking at all the rides and food stalls one would think so. But she was an _idol_, of course she'd been to an amusement park, for promotional purposes if not anything else.

So instead he said, "Isn't it? Where do you want to go first, Yayoi-chan?"

"Uu~ They all look so fun. I don't know which one to pick..."

Glancing over, Shouta couldn't help but laugh at the look on Yayoi's face. She looked genuinely torn between where she wanted to go, her head whipping left to right as she struggled to decide.

"It's your day off," he reminded her. "We can spend as long as you'd like here. We have time to go to every ride."

"But is Shouta-kun okay with that?" she looked at him worriedly.

"Are you kidding? I love amusement parks! I've always wanted to try every ride in one go."

"Really?" when Shouta nodded, Yayoi smiled as though a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. "Then let's go to that roller coaster first!"

"Alrighty then~"

/~/~/

Shouta loved roller coasters, really he did. After a promotional event at amusement parks he always tried to get Touma and Hokuto to ride with him on one out of the goodness of his heart and the want to spend some quality time with his teammates (read as: he knew both of them got ridiculously sick to the point of throwing up) so yeah, he would say he was pretty experienced with roller coasters.

But holy crap Yayoi was freaking insane.

"Come to think of it, didn't you say you're afraid of heights?" he commented in a roundabout way as they boarded their fifth roller coaster.

"My eyes are closed the whole time so it's not that scary," Yayoi explained cheerfully.

Well then.

"You're not tired from all that screaming?" he asked as they exited their eleventh one.

"U-uu~! Not at all!"

Must come from being an idol.

In any case, it was a relief when she finally decided she'd had enough of roller coasters. Now it was time for that god-awful spinny wheel of death that looked like it was about to fall apart any second and kill all of its riders.

"This looks great!" Yayoi said enthusiastically.

Shouta refrained from commenting. He also did his best to refrain from throwing up as the ride began simultaneously spinning and swinging.

"Bumper cars!"

Yayoi was surprisingly aggressive in the ring. And she always seemed to be singling him out.

"Spinning cups!"

He wanted to close his eyes. But then he would have missed seeing that adorable expression on Yayoi's face.

"Haunted house!"

After all the horrors of the previous rides, Shouta figured nothing could scare him. So it was pretty awesome strolling through the dark mansion with a cute girl hanging off his arm. Awww yeah.

"Let's go to the merry-go-round next!"

"I know I said we could go on all the rides but shouldn't we at least take a break?" he said, but he offered a smile to show he was being friendly. "I mean, it's already four o'clock and we haven't even had lunch yet."

She stopped in her tracks, blue eyes blinking questioningly before an alarmed expression came over her face. "Shouta-kun, are you tired? I'm so sorry! I got so carried away I didn't even think about you!"

Shouta wondered briefly if he should feel offended by that. "Haha, no, it's just that I was feeling a little dizzy for a sec there. Sorry, Yayoi-chan. But I'm good now! We can go to merry-go-round."

Yayoi frowned, looking unconvinced. She seemed to still be troubled about the fact that she'd completely ignored her date. "Are you sure? If you're not feeling well we should probably just leave."

"What? No way, I'm perfectly fine! Haha, I'm the amazing and cute Shouta - nothing gets me down! The merry-go-round's that way, right? We should go." Shouta grinned, trying to reassure Yayoi. Sure, he'd been getting tired of all the consecutive rides, but he hadn't meant to make her feel bad. "Come on, it's a good thing that you were having so much fun. You don't need to be sorry for it."

"But ignoring and forgetting about other people is a terrible thing to do, especially if their your friends," Yayoi pointed out.

Shouta shrugged. "But if you can afford to forget about them than that must mean they're really your friends, right? Because you know they wouldn't mind as much." As he spoke, he turned and began to walk, gesturing for Yayoi to follow. When she did, he continued,

"For example, let's say you ignored Iori-chan for a day. Didn't talk to her at all. Didn't even look at her. Then you ignored, say, Yukiho. Who would be more insulted?"

"But Iori-chan's always away with Ryuugu Komachi," Yayoi protested. "I don't even see her every day. We're... used to not talking to each other."

Shouta nodded. "But you see Yukiho every day, right? You two work together a lot since neither of you are part of your own unit yet. So I bet she'd be a little more hurt."

"I... guess." It was clear that Yayoi still wasn't grasping the point of this.

"And yet in the end, despite working with Yukiho more and barely even speaking with Iori-chan, you and Iori-chan are still better friends than you and Yukiho are."

There was a pause as Yayoi thought this over.

"That's hardly the same thing at all!"

"You don't think so?" Shouta blinked, a little surprised that that was her reaction to what he considered to be a personal stroke of brilliance.

"I'm not ignoring Iori-chan or anything! I think about her every day."

"Well, okay, but in the end not talking to her is pretty much the same thing."

Yayoi frowned. "No, it's not. She knows I'm thinking about her, and I know she thinks about me. Just because we don't get a chance to talk to each other doesn't mean we're ignoring each other."

Shouta held up his hands, not wanting to get into an argument with her. "Alright, then let's think of this another way. Would you say that somehow, the fact that you and Iori-chan are suddenly away from each other a lot helps your friendship?"

"It doesn't... strain it..." Yayoi trailed off, now pouring all her concentration into this question. "Whenever we do get to hang out now we always have a lot of fun together. It makes me really happy."

"So not being near her as much is fine because it makes you happier when you're finally together, right?" Shouta concluded.

In the back of his head, Shouta wondered if he'd maybe gotten off topic from his original point. Not that he could remember what his original point had been, anyways.

"Going by that logic, Shouta-kun, I should be happy being with you right now."

"Are you saying you aren't?"

"I'm not saying that at all," Yayoi smiled. "You're a very nice person. I'm grateful that you brought me here today."

"Come now, I'm not being friend-zoned before the day is even over, am I?"

"Friend-zoned?"

"This is a date, Yayoi-chan, a date! After this is over I get to ask you for the privilege of becoming your boyfriend~"

Yayoi looked surprised. "I can't go out with a rival," she said in a completely serious tone. "Especially not one from Jupiter."

Ouch. "Why not?"

"It'd be very complicated. Wouldn't we always be competing with each other?" she pointed out. "That would be terrible. Only one of us would be allowed to win and the other has to suffer."

Shouta paused, and then nodded slowly. "Mm, that's a good point. But wouldn't the loser be happy that his girlfriend won? A relationship is about the other person over yourself. Even if I lost I wouldn't be sad if you were the one who won."

"You're amazing, Shouta-kun."

"I try," Shouta replied.

"And I really have to thank you for the date today."

"I'm glad you're finally considering it as a date."

"So here goes."

Yayoi kissed his cheek, pulled back with a grin, and promptly ran off to the merry-go-round line.

Score.

* * *

**Wow, I cannot believe how short this was. A lot of people gave me some super awesome ideas for a ShoutaxYayoi date, but in the end I thought bringing family matters into the chapter was complicated so I turned it into an amusement park, but then it turned into a therapy session, and then a kiss (on the cheek) to wrap it all up. Funny how things work out.**

**Next date: ToumaxHibiki**


	5. ToumaxHibiki

**Date 4: ToumaxHibiki**

"Hmph."

"Grr..."

Touma didn't know _why_ this date had suddenly become so awkward - especially considering it'd started about two minutes ago - but he definitely wasn't about to be the one to lose face. Scowling, he made a scoffing noise and glared pointedly at the girl beside him.

Hibiki responded with her own full-force glare that nearly made Touma trip over his own feet. Granted, she was a girl who dealt with animals all the time. She'd have to be able to hold her own against the dangerous ones.

Tch. Whatever.

"So?" Hibiki said impatiently.

"What?" he retorted with the same amount of annoyance.

Hibiki was looking at him with obviously distrustful eyes, although as to why she would be suspicious of him he couldn't imagine. "Where're you taking me?" she demanded.

"Don't say it like that," Touma responded. "That makes it sound like I'm kidnapping you. This is a date."

"A date."

"Yes. You've been on dates before."

"No, I haven't. And I'm gettin' the feeling you haven't either."

Touma frowned. "You know I went on one with Haruka a couple days ago."

"I hope she dumped you painfully."

"Look, what's with the hostility?" he snapped. "I'm not trying to be a jerk to you so you don't have to use me as your punching bag."

"You're part of Jupiter!" Hibiki replied immediately. "961 Pro! As if I wouldn't be on my guard around the likes of you."

_Just what the hell's that supposed to mean?_ Touma thought, grumbling to himself. Sure, he knew 765 idols were naturally suspicious of their rival company, but to be outright mean was a different story. He pondered over this as he and his "date" wandered aimlessly through the streets, Hibiki having fallen silent as well.

"Come to think of it, you were part of the Project Fairy unit, weren't you?" Touma realized. When Hibiki winced, he smirked triumphantly. "You were once a 961 idol yourself. Why the sudden change of heart? Sticking with the old man could have made you ten times more popular than you are right now with the 765 scum-."

"Don't talk about'em like that!" Hibiki spat. "What do you know about 765 Pro, anyway? All you do is hide behind your president and say ignorant things that make you sound like an idiot."

Oh. Well then. Touma blinked, surprised by her sudden outburst. Never before had he heard so many insults directed at him in one sentence. But what he'd said had been true, hadn't it? Project Fairy had been ridiculously popular throughout Japan, almost as much as Project Jupiter was now, but once Miki, Takane, and Hibiki had transferred over to 765 Pro their status had pretty much been reduced to nothing.

Still, he figured he ought not to say his thoughts out loud lest the two get into an argument. A public one. One that would no doubt have a negative impact on his reputation.

"Seriously, though, why'd you leave?" at least that question was harmless, right? "Project Fairy was amazing. You guys were far from finished - you would have only kept on getting stronger had you continued."

Hibiki was quiet for a few moments, head nodding from side to side as she contemplated his question. From the look on her face, the bout of anger had already passed, and she was once again calm and clear-headed. "Mm... I guess in the end it's 'cause Kuroi's a jerk. That's about it."

That was all there was to it? Like hell.

"No one leaves just because their boss is a little uptight," Touma said. "Especially if they were in a situation like yours."

"And you know how much of my situation?" She was getting defensive again.

Touma sighed. "Look, the old man's annoying to us, too. Unbelievably so. That doesn't mean we're going to just give up our positions as the most popular idols in Japan and become nobodies again."

"I can get that," Hibiki acknowledged. "But you guys haven't lost yet."

"And Project Fairy did?" Touma certainly never heard about it. Every announcement ever made about Project Fairy was about how amazing they were, and how they'd won this idol competition and that idol competition. No news of them _losing_ one had ever been released, at least not to his knowledge.

Hibiki shrugged and swayed her head again. "Not technically, I guess." And then she was quiet again.

Touma waited for further clarification, and when he received none prompted, "So?"

"Why do you want to know, anyway?"

"Project Fairy is the predecessor of Jupiter," he pointed out, looking away as he said so. "You're technically my senior... I guess. So as your junior it's natural to want to know about this kind of stuff, isn't it?"

"Ngya!" The sudden cry startled Touma, and he snapped his head to look over at Hibiki, who had struck a dramatic pose supposedly to represent her shock. "THE Amagase Touma just willingly called himself my junior! What has the world come to?"

"What's with that surprised tone?" he demanded, trying to ignore the heat that had risen to his face in embarrassment. "It's true, isn't it?"

"Nn, if you're gonna put it that way I feel like I have no choice but to answer," Hibiki laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess if you can joke around like that you're not all bad."

"Who's the one joking around here?" Touma figured Hibiki was just the type who couldn't stay mad for very long.

"See, we left 'cause Kuroi was bein' mean to me," Hibiki explained, a lazy smile on her face as she spoke. "It was a one-on-one competition - nothing to do with Project Fairy - n' I lost against Haruka, way back in the early stages of 765 Pro."

Hibiki had lost to a _rookie_? Then again, that rookie was Haruka, and if Touma had learned anything from his date with her it was that she was definitely a talented idol.

His surprise must have shown, because the fanged girl laughed again, although this time it sounded forced, almost bitter.

"It was a complete disgrace to 961 Pro. 'least, that's what Kuroi told me. I had shamed him and the company, and he wouldn't tolerate failure. He had half a mind to just kick me out of Project Fairy right then and there. Some other stuff, too. Heh, I was crying by the end of it."

Touma said nothing as he listened. Of course, he, Hokuto, and Shouta had had their fair bit of getting chewed out by the old man, and it'd been annoying as hell considering they were for petty things like "you weren't as strong on that last note in the seventh song of your practice" or "your movements weren't together during the third song of the concert last week". But losing a competition when you were under the employment of that guy?

Touma could only imagine the things Kuroi had said to her.

"Haruka got so mad at him, it was crazy," Hibiki's tone became fond as she spoke about the ribbon-wearing girl. "She'd heard him yelling at me and later she went on this huge rant about how terrible it was and stuff. Can you believe it? She was angry that me, her rival, the one who kept on insulting her and her producer all the time up to the competition, had gotten yelled at. She won, she completely proved me wrong and left me in the dust, and she was still so sad for me."

Hibiki was smiling again, and it immediately became clear to Touma how much that moment after her loss had impacted her.

"She was crying for me," Hibiki said. "No one else in 961 Pro would have done that, not even Miki or Takane. But Haruka... she was the winner of the entire thing and she was _crying_ for me. What the hell, right?"

She didn't wait for an answer.

"Didn't stop Kuroi from lecturing me again when we got back to the office. This time, Miki and Takane were around to hear it. I think he expected them to get mad at me for soiling the Project Fairy name, but instead they were pissed that he was so upset at me." Hibiki grinned. "We're pretty sadistic towards each other, but I don't think I could've asked for better teammates."

Touma wondered briefly if he would have done the same if Hokuto or Shouta were getting rebuked. The immediate answer to that was no. He wouldn't have stuck his neck out just because his teammate had screwed up. Project Fairy must have truly been close.

"And then as soon as Kuroi threatened them too, Miki just got up and left, and then Takane grabbed my hand and we followed. After that we never went back - we went to 765 Pro instead. And what do you know, they accepted us."

Hibiki let out a deep breath when she was finished, and then looked up at Touma. "The end. Any questions?"

"... I expect Haruka was happy when you all joined."

She laughed. "Overjoyed is a better word for it." And then Hibiki's expression suddenly became serious again, and she said, "That's why I'm not gonna accept it if you badmouth 765 Pro again, you got it? 'Specially Haruka. She said all you guys did was sing a few songs last time but if I hear you tried anything funny on her-."

"Wanna go for karaoke?"

"... What?"

Touma jabbed his thumb at the karaoke place they were conveniently passing by. "Singing's a good way to express your emotions, and you've definitely got a lot of them you still need to let out. What do you say?"

Hibiki certainly seemed thrown off by the suggestion, but she nodded nonetheless. "Alright then." She flashed another grin as she ran over to the building. "I'm definitely not gonna lose to a 961 idol! I've gotta keep up 765 Pro's winning streak!"

"You sure you can win?" Touma challenged, following her closely.

A confident smirk was the response he received. "No problemo!"

/~/~/

"_I love you! I love you!_

_One of these days I'll get you!_

_Because I promised you I would._"

How had it come to this? Another challenge where Touma was required to sing "765 Pro" songs and in return Hibiki would sing "961 Pro" songs. Seriously, he'd had enough humiliation going against Haruka... and here was an idol with more experience in front of him.

Regardless, Touma was a Jupiter member and Jupiter members never backed down from anything!

"_Let's go! Well here I go!_

_No matter what day it is_

_If it's the two of us let's let our love begin._"

Hibiki certainly seemed to know exactly what she was doing. It was different from Haruka - even though Haruka had been good it was clear she wasn't very familiar with Touma's songs. Here Hibiki was singing as though she'd already sung it before... wait. Now that he thought about it...

"Hibiki! You covered this song on the radio a few weeks ago! That's not fair!"

"_Boy meets girl._"

"Hibiki."

"_Start my love_."

"Hibiki, I'm talking to you."

"_It's like a miracle~_"

Oh, so now she was ignoring him. Great. Just perfect.

/~/~/

"_I want to reach you! With my bare feet_

_Even though the slopes are continuing I don't want to give up._"

Touma had already reached the chorus and Hibiki still wasn't laughing. Huh. Maybe he was actually doing well with this song.

"_Let's count up the things we want to get_

_I want to be shining any time_

_With my shiny smile_."

He glanced behind him. Hibiki was collapsed on the couch silently gasping for air as she laughed.

This was not nice. He was really trying, too.

/~/~/

"I swear, I wasn't laughing 'cause you were bad!" Hibiki insisted. "It was just funny listening to someone like you sing _shiny smile_."

"What do you mean 'someone like you'?"

"A big grumpy dude whose character song is super dark and confusing."

Touma snorted. "Do you judge everyone by their character songs?"

"And the words they say when they're not playing the role of idol," Hibiki replied. She stretched and let out a satisfied sound as they exited the building. "Ah~ that was great, though. Thanks for paying for me. I guess you're a little bit better than I thought you were."

"Well, thanks so much."

"And I suppose I can forgive you."

"For what?"

"For being a 961 Pro idol."

Touma rolled his eyes. "Way to sound hypocritical."

Hibiki grinned. "Well, yeah. But whichever company I'm in I always take my rivals seriously, so you should consider it a good thing regardless." And then she pointed, almost accusingly, at him. "Besides, aren't you the same?"

Frowning, he batted her hand away. "Same as what?"

"You take your rivalries just as seriously as I do! Just you're a bigger jerk about it." Hibiki shrugged. "But that's okay. You're alright in almost every other regard. I mean, you listened to me for real today, so how bad can you be?"

"So you're saying I'm not as big a jerk as I could've been?" said Touma.

"Something like that," Hibiki agreed. "Keep it up, Touma."

A wink. A fang-toothed smile.

"If you do I'll probably stop thinking of releasing Inumi on you. I might even reward you with a kiss."

/~/~/

It was only later that night, right as Touma was falling asleep, that he realized he forgot to ask for Hibiki's signature.

* * *

**I just realized the romance label on this is a lie.**_  
_

**Well. I love Hibiki. And Touma is, to me, the most fun to write out of the Jupiter boys (well, or maybe Hokuto since all he does is flirt). ****Of course, I appreciate the suggestions for the date this time, but to be honest I thought the zoo was a little bit too expected. Although thinking back on it it might've been easier to write...**

**I'll be honest, I have never played Perfect Sun - just watched a few videos of it on YouTube - so the story Hibiki tells is probably a lot different than the canon one. But meh.**

**Next date: HokutoxChihaya**


	6. HokutoxChihaya

**Date 4: HokutoxChihaya**

* * *

"Good morning, Chihaya-chan~"

"Please do not address me in such an informal manner."

"..."

"..."

"Chihaya-san~"

"Please do not address me in such an informal manner."

"..."

"..."

"Good morning, Kisaragi-san."

"Same to you, Ijuuin-san."

So far, things were not going as planned.

Hokuto was supposed to completely sweep her off her feet! But here he was, not even two minutes into his date and he'd already gotten on her bad side. Not to worry, though. He was the Idol Prince, after all. Wooing girls was like his _specialty_.

"I'd like to thank you for agreeing to come out with me on this fine day," Hokuto said solemnly.

Chihaya said nothing in return, but the Jupiter idol did not miss the slight narrowing of her eyes. This meant she did not want to be here (not that Hokuto couldn't tell by himself). Knowing her, in fact, she'd probably rather be practicing more songs or whatever. To a girl like Chihaya, singing - and consequently, work - meant everything.

Hokuto did not like work.

But perhaps he could move this to his favor.

"Angel~ have you ever been to karaoke?"

This time a wince. Ouch. Hokuto found himself surprised that someone like Chihaya wouldn't like karaoke.

"Okay... we don't have to..."

Chihaya did not respond.

Hokuto found himself flailing.

Seriously! How could he be expected to impress Azusa and Makoto if he couldn't even get Chihaya to crack a smile? Hokuto really had to turn up his charm here or else his entire plan would fall to pieces. Looked like it was time to bring out his secret weapon he knew no girl could resist.

"Why don't we go get lunch?"

/~/~/

No, Hokuto wasn't completely absolutely utterly incredibly relieved that Chihaya had agreed to eat with him.

He'd known all along that she would accept because who _wouldn't_ want to eat lunch with the Idol Prince himself?

And so they sat in a café, Hokuto with a cup of coffee and Chihaya sipping a glass of water as they looked over the menu. Hokuto had already assured Chihaya that he would pay for everything so she could order whatever she wanted.

"It's all on me," he said with a wink.

Unfortunately, Chihaya missed it because she was looking at the menu. Hokuto sat back, coughed, and also turned his attention to the list of delicious food before him.

It wasn't long before a waitress approached them and asked to take their orders.

"I'll have a plate of spaghetti," Hokuto said, fighting the urge to add 'angel~' in a flirtatious voice accompanied by a sexy smirk. This was his date with Chihaya and he had to make sure she got all the attention.

"I'll just have another glass of water, please," Chihaya said.

The waitress nodded, took their menus, and walked away.

Hokuto stared. "Just a cup of water?"

"I ate prior to meeting with you."

"... Why didn't you say so?"

"If you were hungry it would have been rude of me to prevent you from eating."

The rest of the lunch was spent in very awkward silence as Hokuto ate his spaghetti and Chihaya drank her water.

/~/~/

"Kisaragi-san, you make this very hard on a man."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Hokuto sighed dramatically, shrugging his shoulders in a lost way. "Why, even Yukihime – Yukiho, of course – was willing to at least talk to me. Tell me, Angel, what can I do to allow you to have a good time today?"

"For starters," Chihaya said evenly, "please do not address me in such an informal manner."

/~/~/

"The arcade is always a good place for a date," Hokuto said, repeating the very words Shouta had told him a year ago.

That alone should have alerted him to how desperate he was getting.

Chihaya stared blankly at the flashing machines in front of them. All around the two idols, grade schoolers were running about screaming for more games. A group of boys were crowded around what seemed to be a racing game, and a few girls were marveling at how one of their friends had bested the claw machine. Elsewhere, other kids were cashing in their tickets for a receipt, which they then presented to the counter in exchange for a bouncy ball or a model airplane.

"Do you take me for one of the twins?" she asked.

"… I'm sorry."

/~/~/

"Why don't we catch a movie?"

They were now standing in front of a theater, observing the shows available. Chihaya did not seem particularly interested in any of them. Therefore, Hokuto decided, it was up to him to make a choice.

Oh, yes, he _wanted_ to pick the most romantic movie of all (he heard it had very good reviews) but he'd also noticed the new 765 Pro movie was out. Something about mafia and guns and the such. And what better way to show his love than to treat his date to a movie starring her own coworkers?

Chihaya had no reaction to his decision, and silently followed him into the building.

It was a very violent movie, Hokuto noted. Right off the bat, poor Hibiki had died, and following that was Yayoi and Makoto and the twins and Takane and…

Turned out at the end, Chihaya died, too.

/~/~/

"Don't you think the park is just so relaxing?"

This time, Chihaya actually seemed to be at ease, as she glanced around with almost a serene smile on her face. "It is very nice here," she said.

Hokuto beamed. "And you know what I love to do here? Feed the ducks." As they passed by the pond, Hokuto produced a stale loaf of bread from his jacket pocket and, with some effort, proceeded to tear off a piece and toss it into the water.

Immediately, a group of ducks swam up and one gobbled the piece of bread down. Hokuto smiled, tossed another one, and then offered the loaf to Chihaya. "Would you like to try?"

She tentatively accepted it. Internally, Hokuto threw a party.

Chihaya tried to rip off a piece of bread, but apparently the loaf was older than Hokuto had thought. Finally giving up, she threw the entire loaf in and smacked a duck on the head. Across the pond, a police officer yelled at them.

Hokuto grabbed Chihaya's hand and ran.

/~/~/

"I'm really screwing this up, aren't I?" Hokuto commented once they'd gotten a safe enough distance away from the duck pond.

"What?"

"This date. You're not having fun at all."

Chihaya considered this for a few moments, and then said, "That is true. But to be fair, Ijuuin-san, I have been told by several of my coworkers that it takes a lot for me to open up."

"Oh?" Hokuto smiled, glad that he had finally gotten more than one sentence out of her. "Then I suppose if even 765 Pro can do it, it should be more than possible for the Idol Prince, yes?"

And that sealed his fate.

"Would you happen to be implying something from that statement, Ijuuin-san?"

Hokuto was caught off-guard by her sudden cold tone. "Um… no?" Wait, what had he said? He'd been teasing her, not insulting her friends! "An- Kisaragi-san, that was a joke, of course-."

"It was not an amusing one."

Yup, he was definitely screwing this one up big time.

"I do not find entertainment in you making fun of 765 Pro."

Holy crap, Chihaya actually looked legitimately _angry_ now."

"Even if you did not intend it in such a way, the fact remains that you thought of those words and said them despite knowing what meaning was hiding behind them."

"Kisaragi-san, I can assure you that I in no way meant to insult you or your-."

"Perhaps so, but you still did."

Hokuto winced, trying to think desperately how he could get out of this situation. Finally, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"While I can't deny that that's how it came out, you can't just excuse my feelings in all this. I honestly did not mean to refer to your friends in such a negative away, and I sincerely apologize for my thoughtlessness. If you'd forgive me, Kisaragi-san, I would be most grateful."

Was everyone in 765 Pro this overprotective? Honestly, it was almost getting ridiculous.

Chihaya watched him for several moments, the anger in her eyes now subsiding back to their usual blankness. Hokuto lowered his head to further emphasize his apology, hoping fiercely that she would accept it and they could go on with their date.

Finally, she bowed and said, "I should return to my work." And then she walked away.

/~/~/

Touma and Shouta later found Hokuto lying on the couch in their office. He didn't respond to any of their words, only stared at them blankly, so they left him there for the night.

* * *

**The problem with Jupiter is that they're so used to insulting 765 Pro they kinda forget that their dates are _from_ 765 Pro... **

**Oh, Hokuto, in the end it was never meant to be. Don't feel bad... you still have two more chapters to make up for this complete and utter fail! Also, I apologize sincerely for the late chapter. I had written this out previously, my computer crashed and I lost it, and then I was too lazy to retype it until a certain reviewer managed to give me the motivation again. Thanks for that :3**

**Next Date: ShoutaxAmi**


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